You've got the whole film festival in your hand

Short film, tiny screen, the new projection for movies, reports
Cynthia Karena.

THE International
Portable Film Festival is showing on an iPod near you. Andrew
Apostola, 27, and Simon Goodrich, 25, are Melbourne filmmakers and
the directors of a small-format video business organising the
world's first film festival to explore the art of portable
filmmaking and viewing.

"This is the perfect forum for new ideas and new directions in
film," says Mr Apostola, who envisages the festival will take in
all mobile video devices such as the iPod, 3G phones, Sony's PSP
game system and the iPaq hand-held PC.

Six Cities, a collection of short films from young filmmakers in
Tokyo, New York, Montreal, London, Melbourne and Vancouver
reflecting their perspective of their city, is the first in a
series of cinematic themes commissioned by the festival.

The festival is broadcast through a videocast - like a podcast,
but for video - so there are no cinemas and no queues. The films
are downloaded automatically using Really Simple Syndication -
which alerts filmgoers when new content is available - and then
shared over email, Bluetooth or any other peer-to-peer
technology.

"Videocasting is more convenient than streaming video as films
are received directly on your device rather than going through a
link on a website," Mr Apostola says. "You can choose the films you
want to watch, and watch them anywhere, anytime - during your lunch
break or on a train.

"More people are busy and working longer hours and they'd love
to see a film festival but it's not possible. People are already
used to watching DVDs on notebooks; this is the next step."

Filmmakers submitting films are asked to be conscious that
people will be watching them on a small format, often under testing
conditions such as on the move and in bright sunlight. Filmmakers
are familiar with the changes needed to make when moving from
widescreen cinema format to TV, and now they have make their films
look good on an even smaller format.

"It's not just about rehashing old content for small devices,"
Mr Apostola says. "People have to think differently."

Martin Moszczynski, a video producer and festival contributor,
says contrast is important. He used big, vivid images in his film
and focused on making the characters fill the screen.

"Using a digital camera makes it easier as you can use the
viewfinder to see if (what you're shooting) looks good on a small
format."

Mr Goodrich says no one seems to know how to confront the small
medium. "I really think we have a genuine answer through getting
people to present their content."

"You have companies that say, yes, we'll create mobisodes
ourselves, coming back six months later looking for people to
provide content," he says.

Researcher, Datamonitor, says that viewers will watch just 25
minutes of mobile TV broadcasts a day. Short films, news, cartoons
and sports highlights are good content for the medium. But feature
films are less suitable, due to the devices' small screen size and
the need to constantly hold the handset, Datamonitor says.

And data compression is also a factor, Mr Apostola says. "This
limits the quality of the film, but if you hold the device directly
in front of you, the quality is very good.

"Businesses that put dollars into advertising need to open up
very quickly to the possibilities of small video format and online
advertising, otherwise the way things are moving they will be . . .
left behind."

Dr Roy Brown, Microsoft's partner portfolio manager, specialises
in mobility and portable applications. He says Microsoft sees a big
demand for access to rich information such as video, instant
messaging and multimedia services in a corporate situation. "The
potential of mobile devices lies in real-time communication. Mobile
home lenders can process home loans immediately, with forms and
back-end calculations done on the spot."

Dr Brown says that consumers and industry are looking to extend
applications into a wireless mobile environment, to building sites
and large manufacturing or industrial plants.

Mr Apostola and Mr Goodrich are also the directors of Portable
Content, which produces portable content for business. "We've
created curriculum for schools using radio and iPods, and we are
looking at producing school content on a small-format platform," Mr
Apostola says. "We are looking at small platforms for students to
upload their schoolwork so their peers, teachers and parents can
look at it. Kids are the biggest users of this stuff, and the
peer-to-peer stuff is potentially greater."

People wanting to get into the world of portable film content
need to know the technology and the trends. "We get stuff every day
(from email subscriptions). We follow every trend through blogs,
online forums and chat rooms."